Dakota Growers Pasta Co. is exploring ways to boost the price of its infrequently traded stock and make it easier for investors to buy, a company letter to its shareholders says.

The Carrington company has asked brokers that handle its shares to suspend trading, according to postings on the Web sites of two securities dealers that market Dakota Growers stock. Company officials intend to provide more details about its plans at the pasta company's annual meeting in Devils Lake on Jan. 6.

In recent years, the company's shares have traded between $4 and $6. The letter, sent this week to Dakota Growers' 1,300 shareholders, said the company is considering a stock buyback and other options to encourage more buying and selling.

"The alternatives under consideration include more than one option that we believe would value Dakota Growers' common stock at a price near $10 a share, or more," the letter says. "The board is continuing to analyze the various options, but has not entered into any definitive agreements or arrangements."

Dakota Growers' shares have not been listed on any stock exchange since its shareholders voted four years ago to switch from a cooperative business structure to a stockholder-owned corporation. Until the change, only durum farmers could own stock in Dakota Growers.

The company's chairman, Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, said it is difficult at present for investors to buy Dakota Growers stock, or determine its proper value. He declined comment on what strategies the company is considering to boost the market for its shares.

Dakota Growers' biggest shareholders are MVC Capital Inc. of Purchase, N.Y., which first bought a stake in the company in July 2004, and MVC Capital's chairman, Michael Tokarz, according to Dakota Growers' most recent annual report.

Both Tokarz, who is one of Dakota Growers' 10 directors, and MVC Capital own 8.2 percent of the pasta company, the report says. MVC Capital paid $5.50 a share for its initial stake.